Tag Archives: Bermuda Greens

We came agonizingly close on Noren making the playoff last week at the Honda but unfortunately, he came up just short, but he did get us a full each way place.

We leave Florida and head to Mexico City for the WGC Mexico Championship. The course was designed by Scottish brothers Willie and Alex Smith and opened in 1928 and hosted to the Mexico Open from 1944 to 1960. It has three par 5’s, two of which measure just over 600 yards, four par 3’s and 11 par 4’s.

It is a similar grass type to Riviera with kikuyu fairways and a mix of poa annua and bentgrass greens. The fairways are tree lined but forgiving so accuracy shouldn’t be a massive issue. There are also some water hazards to contend with, one in particular is the par 3 17th with a lake protecting the front and left side of the green that could offer an interesting finish on Sunday.

Scoring doesn’t seem to be too difficult here. Dustin Johnson took the title last year and didn’t shoot worse than a 70 throughout the week to post 14 under par in total. The Mexico Open was last played here in 2014 and was won by Columbia’s Óscar David Álvarez who finished 17 under par in total.

The course is at high altitude which plays into the bigger hitters hands a bit. If you look at the top 10 on last year’s leaderboard names like Rory, DJ, Rahm, Pieters and Thomas all featured and ranked inside the top 20 for driving distance last year so that could be a bit of a clue. DJ, Fisher and Fleetwood all ranked inside the top 5 in GIR and five of the top six ranked inside the top 20 for scrambling.

Players that hit it long, putt well and avoid the deep greenside bunkers should score well. A good indicator could be looking at players who had a good week in Riviera a couple of weeks ago as this course has the same grass type.

The weather looks sunny and dry with moderate wind so scoring should be good.

Tommy Fleetwood 16/1

The current number 2 in the Race to Dubai is trending in the right direction and judging by last week’s performance in Florida, looks to be hitting the ball nicely coming into this week.

He has been playing solid over the last couple of months showing form figures 4,37,6,1,3,6,21,10 in his last eight starts.

The Englishman had a great week at the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa in November finishing T10 (which is also a high-altitude course) and followed that with a T21 at the DP World in Dubai and a solo sixth in Hong Kong.

Fleetwood had a super start to 2018 and successfully defended in Abu Dhabi at the end of January where he didn’t shoot worse than a 68 all week to finish on 22 under in total. He then travelled to the Dubai Desert Classic where he shot rounds of 69,69,66,68 to finish T6 on -16 for the week.

Most recently on the PGA Tour, Tommy has kept up his good form finishing a respectable T37 in Riviera and a solo fourth last week at the Honda which included a 68,67,69 over the weekend. Fleetwood played well here in Mexico last year shooting four rounds of 70 or better to finish solo second and ranked fifth in GIR and seventh in par 5 scoring.

Statswise he is leading GIR on the European Tour this season and ranks sixth in DA, 37th in DD and third in stroke average. The Englishman looks to be in great shape coming into this week and has to be respected here.

Alex Noren 25/1

I’ve decided to give the Swede another rattle this week based on last week’s impressive performance in Florida. He has been making a statement in the US over the last few weeks showing some impressive form and has the look of a man on the cusp of a win.

He came very close to getting into the playoff last week with Justin Thomas and Luke List and was a bit unlucky not birdie the last after his third shot pulled up short of the green. That being said he still finished with an impressive final round 67 to finish solo third.

Noren has been playing some great golf over the last year or so with form figures 3,16,21,2,12,31,45,12 in his last eight tournaments. His form has been particularly impressive over the last four weeks and despite losing a playoff, he had a great week in Torrey Pines shooting rounds of 70,66,,69,73 and followed that with a T21 in Phoenix. He then travelled to Riviera and shot four rounds of 71 or better to finish T16 on four under par for the week.

After shooting an opening round 76 here last year, the Swede was left with an uphill battle but bounced back very well with rounds of 71,72,69 which is a huge positive.

Statswise he is averaging just over 300 yards off the tee and ranks seventh in SGP, 37th in scrambling and fourth in par 5 scoring. Noren comes here in much better form this time around and could be a huge danger man here.

Thomas Pieters 35/1

The big hitting Belgian is playing some decent golf lately and after a great performance here last year, Chapultepec looks like it could really suit his game.

Pieters has had a mixed bag of form over the last few months but there has been some decent stand out performances. He finished T11 at the Turkish Airlines Open at the end of November where he didn’t shoot worse than a 70 all week and followed that with a very strong performance in Abu Dhabi where he posted 17 under in total shooting three rounds of 67 or better to finish T5.

He started well in Riviera with three 71’s but had a poor final round 78 to finish T68, which was a bit unusual for a player of his calibre. However, he did rebound well with an impressive T13 last week in Florida where he ranked 11th in strokes gained putting which will give him great confidence on the greens coming into this week.

He had a great week here last year finishing T5 shooting three 68’s and a 69. Pieters is no stranger to stepping up to the plate in the big events finishing T14 at the WGC HSBC Champions last year, T4 at the Masters and solo fourth at the WGC Bridgestone. One to watch.

Tony Finau 40/1

There’s some courses out there that seem to suit certain players and I think Chapultepec could be right up Tony’s street. He has been in great form this season with form figures 2,MC,6,32,16,11,26,2 with four top 11 finishes in eight starts.

He started the New Year with a respectable T32 in Hawaii at the Sony, which included three 67’s in a row and followed that with an impressive T6 in Torrey Pines, which included an opening round 65. Finau then missed the cut in Phoenix but he bounced back in style in Riviera shooting three rounds in the 60’s to finish T2 where he led the field in strokes gained tee to green.

The American made his WGC debut at the HSBC Champions in China back in October and played very well finishing T11 so that’s a huge positive here.

He is leading the PGA Tour in driving distance averaging an impressive 327 off the tee this season. He also ranks sixth in SGTTG, 16th in par 5 scoring and 20th in par 3 scoring. He looks great value here to have a good week on a course that should suit him.

Well we came close last week with both Rahm and Finau sitting in second and third spot after 36 holes. Rahm had a poor finish but Finau finished T6 getting a full place (PP paying 1-7) for a small profit for the week. Let’s hope we can go one better this week in Scottsdale.

The Course

The Waste Management Phoenix Open has long been the best attended event on the schedule and this year should be no different. This year particularly should be special for the hosts as this is the 30-year anniversary of the tournament. TPC Scottsdale underwent some major renovations back in in 2014 with over $12 million dollars spent on upgrading the course.

Strategic changes have touched all 18 holes with some of the fairways being realigned and bunkers reshaped with a view to making them more punishing. The large Bermuda greens were also resurfaced and tend to be a bit on the quick side. Roughly 100 yards was added to the course but it hasn’t made a huge difference to the scoring. The fairways are quite forgiving but if a tee shot goes a little wayward, it could end up in the desert or a deep bunker.

The course features three par 5’s that all measure between 550 and 560 yards and should be reachable in two by some of the bigger hitters in the field. The 15th is a reachable par 5 with water coming into play so the second shot will certainly get the players attention. The course also has four par 3’s and 11 par 4’s. The 17th is a driveable par 4 and also has water in play and has been known to trip up the leaders in the final round over the last few years.

The signature 16th hole is an enclosed arena that holds some 20,000 spectators and tends to offer a football stadium feel to it with a great atmosphere. It is an arena that can erupt at the sight of a good tee shot and give any player who is in the hunt a good ego boost going into the final few holes on Sunday.

This course doesn’t really favor length or accuracy but judging by previous winners, a hot putter and hitting plenty of greens appear to be the ingredients for success here. With 11 par 4’s in total, it’s also worth looking at par 4 scoring along with good scrambling.

Webb Simpson 35/1

Webb has been trending nicely in the right direction lately and given his excellent form here in Arizona over the last few years, he is well worth backing this week.

He started the season with a respectable T17 at the Safeway and followed that with a T20 at the Shriners Open in Vegas which included three rounds of 70 or better. He began the New Year with an impressive T4 at the Sony shooting rounds of 67,70,63,65 to post 15 under par in total. Simpson was particularly impressive over the weekend in Waialae shooting a total of 12 under and putted superbly.

His record here in Scottsdale is very impressive with form figures 2,14,10,8,8 since 2011. Simpson has played a total of 20 competitive rounds here and has shot a 70 or better 16 times so this course clearly suits his eye.

Statswise, Webb is hitting an average of 71% of greens in reg and ranks 38th in SGTTG. He seems to be getting used to the new putting regulations ranking an impressive 18th in strokes gained putting, fourth in scrambling and third in par 4 scoring. All in all, he looks great value at 35/1 here.

Daniel Berger 35/1

Daniel Berger is another player that seems to be trending in the right direction with three top 20’s and a top 25 in his last five starts. He played well at the WGC-HSBC Champions back at the end of October finishing T24. Berger then had another decent week in Bermuda at the Hero World Challenge finishing a respectable T14 which included two 70’s over the weekend.

The Florida native started the New Year with a four rounds of level par or better in Kapalua finishing T11 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions posting 10 under par in total. He then travelled to Waialae for the Sony Open and shot four rounds of 69 or better to finish T14 for the tournament closing with an impressive final round 64.

These large Bermuda greens could suit the American as both of his PGA Tour victories to date have come on the Bermuda greens of TPC Southwind in Tennessee, home of the St Jude Classic.

He has a good record here with two top 10’s in three appearances finishing T7 last year and T10 in 2015. Statswise he is hitting just under 70% of GIR and ranks 19th in SG off the tee. With good current form and a good record here, Berger looks to be a good shout here.

Alex Noren 40/1

The Swede played brilliantly last week in Torrey Pines but just fell at the last hurdle. He got himself into a three-man playoff and ended up losing to Jason Day early on Monday morning in a six-hole playoff. Despite that, Noren played great throughout the week shooting rounds of 70,66,69,73 to post 10 under par in total.

He has nine European Tour wins to date, one in 2017 in Wentworth and four in 2016. These wins came on various different courses from English parkland (BMW PGA 2017, Bristish Masters 2016) to tricky Scottish links courses (Scottish open 2016, Nordea Masters 2015) to mountainous South African courses (Nedbank Golf Challenge 2016), this guy seems to have the game to contend anywhere.

He has been in decent form over the last couple of months finishing T31 at the WGC-HSBC Champions and followed that with a T12 at the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa. Noren then teed it up at the Hero World Challenge in Bermuda finishing T12 in early December.

It’s also worth noting that the Swede has great form on desert style courses over the last few years finishing second in the Dubai Desert Classic in 2015 and T4 at the Qatar Masters in 2013. Noren has proven he can play, contend and win anywhere on any style of golf course. After coming close last week in Torrey, he could go one better in Arizona.

Austin Cook 60/1

I backed Austin Cook a couple of weeks ago at the CareerBuilder in California where he was in great shape after 54 holes holding a one-shot lead, and then went through a bad spell in round four shooting a disappointing, uncharacteristic 74 to finish T14. That being said I am willing to overlook that slight blip and give him another chance here on a course I think could suit.

He has been playing well so far this season with a win and five top 25’s in his last seven starts. He started with a respectable T25 at the Sanderson Farms Championship back in October followed by a T20 at the Shriners Open in Vegas posting three under for the week.

Cook then teed it up at the RSM Classic where he didn’t shoot worse than a 67 for the tournament (including a second round 62) to win by four from J.J Spaun on 21 under par.

He then travelled to Kapalua and finished T22 and followed that with a T18 at the Sony where shot rounds of 67,71,65,66 to post 11 under in total.

The young American looks like he could have the game to suit this week ranking 27th in GIR, 18TH in scrambling, 45TH in SGP, 14TH in par 3 scoring and 29th in par 4 scoring. With a precise long game, good putting and solid short game Austin Cook looks great value here.

There are four golf courses at Innisbrook all designed by Larry Packard, the oldest of which is the Island Course which was completed in 1970. The Copperhead Course came next in 1974, and originally had 27 holes before nine were used as the basis of the Highlands North Course. The final addition was the Highlands South Course.

The Copperhead course underwent some subtle changes in 2015 with bigger tee boxes, re shaped bunkers around the greens and re grassed fairways. It is a lengthy par 71 and has four par 5’s, five par 3’s and nine par 4’s. All but one of the par 3’s measure over 200 yards and will demand good accurate iron play to score on the greens which are smaller than average for PGA Tour standards.

Three of the four par 5’s, the first, 11th and 14th are pretty easy and should offer up plenty of birdies. Players that can work the ball both directions should also have a big advantage with two out of the four par 5’s having double doglegs. Although this course is long, there is more of an emphasis on accuracy with players reaping the rewards with accuracy off the tee on some holes.

Water will be a key feature and comes into play on 9 out of the 18 holes. This course features three tricky closing holes on the back nine 16, 17 and 18 which are called the “Snake Pit”. It consists of two very tricky par 4’s and a difficult par 3 and is known as one of the most difficult closing three hole stretches on Tour.

There are a few stats to consider on this course, the first one being accuracy off the tee. It also boasts five par 3’s and four par 5’s so be on the lookout for good par 3 and par 5 performance stats. The greens here are Bermuda greens and are quite small and tricky to read so be on the lookout for good GIR stats and accurate iron players.

Henrik Stenson 11/1

Despite withdrawing last week in Mexico with a stomach virus, Stenson seems to be back to full health here this week. The Swede has been in great form over the last few months with six top 10’s in his last seven starts. He had a good week at the WGC HSBC Champions finishing T2 and followed that with a solo eighth at the Nedbank in South Africa, T9 at the DP World in Dubai, T8 in Abu Dhabi, solo second at the Hero World Challenge and a solo second at the Dubai Desert Classic a couple of weeks ago.

He has played well here at Copperhead in the past finishing T11 last year and fourth in 2015. Stenson could suit this course ranking sixth in driving accuracy, fourth in GIR and fourth in stroke average so far this season in Europe. He should be well rested after last week and looks a worthy favourite here.

Daniel Berger 25/1

I backed Daniel a couple of weeks ago at the Honda where he didn’t play his best but after an encouraging performance last week in Mexico, Im willing to give him another shot here. He has been playing some good golf recently and comes here with five top 20’s in his last eight starts. He had a good week at the WGC HSBC Champions back in October finishing T2 and followed that with a T14 at the SBS Tournament of Champions finishing 12 under. Berger had another solid performance at the Phoenix Open in February finishing T7 which included rounds of 71,66,66,68 to post 13 under par in total.

Last week in Mexico he played well for the first three rounds shooting 70,66,70 and was right in contention but fell away on Sunday shooting a final round 72 to finish T16. Berger played well here last year finishing T11 but comes here in much better form this time around. Growing up in Florida, Berger is a good Bermuda player and ranks 25th in SGP, 10th in scrambling and 27th in par 3 scoring.

Gary Woodland 25/1

Although Chapltapec didn’t really suit him last week, I reckon the big hitting American could feel more at home here in Copperhead this week. Woodland is in great form with four top 10’s and a top 20 in his last seven events. He had a good week at the OHL Classic finishing solo second and followed that with a T6 at The Sony Open in Hawaii and a T20 at The Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pines.

Most recently he played well at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am shooting 67,65 over the weekend to finish T5 on 12 under. He followed that with another solid performance at The Honda Classic in Florida shooting rounds of 71,66,66,69 to finish eight under and T2 for the tournament. Woodland has played well here over the last few years and had his first PGA Tour win here back in 2011. He also finished T29 in 2012 and T8 in 2014. Statswise Woodland is averaging just over 305 off the tee and ranks 15th in SG Approach to the green, 18th in SGTTG and 27th in GIR. If he putts well he could be dangerous.

Wesley Bryan 45/1

Ive been keeping an eye on this guy over the last 6 months and he’s really turning into a superb player. Although he hasn’t had the best start to the season, Bryan has played really well in his last two tournaments posting two top 5’s. He played well in LA at the Genesis Open shooting 69,69,63,72 to post 11 under in total and T4 for the tournament. He then went to Florida and had another good week finishing T4 on seven under, which included an opening round 64.

Statswise Bryan looks like another player that could suit this course ranking 35th in SG approaches to the green, 25th in SG around the green and 18th in par 3 scoring. He looks great value for a player bang in form.

This looks like another tricky week here on the PGA Tour as the Florida swing gets underway. The PGA National Champion Course was opened on November 17, 1981 and was designed by Tom Fazio. It was the site of the 1983 Ryder Cup, the 1987 PGA Championship and the Senior PGA Championship for 19 years, from 1982–2000. The course underwent a $4 million renovation by Jack Nicklaus in December 2002, and in 2007 became the home of The Honda Classic.

The Champion Course is a tough par 70 with two par 5’s, four tricky par 3’s and 12 par 4’s and will be a difficult test for the players this week. This course has Bermuda grass greens, which is a feature on most Florida courses. The fairways are quite wide and forgiving, however the greens here are tricky and guarded by plenty of bunkers. There are over a dozen water hazards to contend with and the wind tends to be a factor on this course so be on the lookout for good wind players that hit a lot of greens. There are over 100 bunkers on this course so good scrambling and sand saves will be essential.

Looking at the way this course sets up, it might be worth looking at par 3 performance as this course has four very tricky par 3’s with GIR, strokes gained putting and par 4 performance also key stats here. The “Bear Trap” is a key feature on this course with the par 3 15th, par 4 16th and par 3 17th being particularly difficult and could potentially offer a thrilling finish come Sunday night. The 18th is a straight forward par 5 and reachable with two good shots.

The weather could have a part to play again here with wind and rain forecast early and late this week and looks like it could be a threat throughout the tournament.

Adam Scott 12/1

I’ve decided to stick with the Aussie here after a decent performance last week in Riviera. He was knocking around the top 10 for most of the week and I thought he might just squeak some place money but it wasn’t meant to be. However he did play well and finished T11 for the tournament on nine under par.

He has been in good form so far this year with five top 15’s in his last five starts. He played well at The CIMB Classic finishing T10 and followed that with a T14 at the WGC HSBC Champions. Scott then played in his native Australian Open finishing T14 for the tournament on six under which included a second round 65. Last week he shot four steady rounds of 70 or better to finish T11, which looks very encouraging coming to Florida this week.

He has only played here three times in the past missing the cut in 2011, but followed that with a T12 in 2014 and a win last year. He played superbly well here last year shooting 70,65,66,70 to post nine under par in total. The Aussie is a great wind player and ranks 21st in SG Off the tee, first in SGP, fourth in sand saves and 15th in par 5 scoring. After decent performances over the last few weeks Scott looks a good shout here.

Russell Knox 30/1

Knox is another player in decent form coming to Florida this week with eight top 20’s in his last eight starts. He started the season with a T10 at the CIMB Classic and followed that with a T9 at the WGC HSBC Champions, solo third at the OHL Classic, T19 at the World Cup of Golf and a solo 16th at the Hero World Challenge. He started the New Year off with a T17 at the SBS Tournament of Champions in Kapalua followed by a T11 at the Sony Open where he didn’t shoot worse than a 69 throughout the week.

He has a good record on this course finishing T26 last year, T3 in 2015 and just missed out on a win in 2014 after losing a playoff to Russell Henley to finish second. The Scot is another solid wind player and ranks sixth in GIR, fifth in birdie average, fourth in par 3 scoring and 10th in par 4 scoring. Knox is in fine form and could be a big danger man here.

Daniel Berger 35/1

The Florida native has had a decent season so far with three top 15’s in his last six starts. He had a good week at the WGC HSBC Champions back in October and didn’t shoot worse than a 70 throughout the tournament to finish T2. He followed that with a T14 at the SBS Tournament of Champions in Kapalua finishing 12 under par for the week. Most recently, Berger had another solid performance at the Phoenix Open finishing T7 which included rounds of 71,66,66,68 to post 13 under par in total.

Berger has only played here twice before and was unlucky not to win in 2014 after shooting a final round 64. He made it into a playoff with veteran Padraig Harrington and came up short to finish second. He does tick some statistical boxes here ranking 26th in SGP, 17th in scrambling and fourth in par 3 scoring.

Ollie Schneiderjans 66/1

The young American has been playing some great golf this season with three top 10’s and two top 30’s in his last six tournaments. He had a great week at the RSM Classic finishing T6 and followed that with a T27 at the Sony and a T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pines. He then shot three rounds of 70 or better to finish T24 at the Phoenix Open to post nine under for the tournament. Last week in Riviera, Schneiderjans kept his good from going shooting 68,69,69,68 to finish T8 on ten under par in total.

He could be another player that could suit this course averaging just over 300 yards off the tee ranking 30th in driving distance. He has played here twice before missing the cut last year and finished T9 in 2015. Schneiderjans looks great value here and could be one to watch.

The FedEx St. Jude Classic is held in Memphis, Tennessee and has been held annually since 1958, and is currently played at TPC Southwind, its home since 1989. This will be the final tournament before the US Open next week in Oakmont. TPC Southwind is a 7,239 yard par 70 with two par 5’s, four par 3’s and 12 par 4’s.

The fairways here are undulating and narrow and will demand a fair amount of accuracy. The rough isn’t too penal so it’s not the end of the world if you’re a bit erratic off the tee. There are roughly 100 bunkers with 10 water hazards coming into play with various streams, lakes and ponds scattered around the course. The greens here are quite small and undulating and will demand accurate iron shots and good putting in order to make birdies. The main areas of focus here are GIR, strokes gained tee to green, strokes gained putting, par 4 and par 3 scoring and current/previous form.

Brooks Koepka 14/1

Brooks came very close to winning the Byron Nelson a couple of weeks ago after shooting rounds of 65,64,65 in the first three rounds. His game looked in great shape but he let the tournament slip through his fingers after shooting a final round 71 and was beaten by Sergio Garcia in a playoff. Despite that he still finished second and played solidly all week. He also played well at The WGC Matchplay finishing fifth and followed that with a T21 at The Masters. He has a good record here at TPC Southwind finishing third here last year and T19 in 2014.

Koepka is averaging over 300 yards off the tee and ranks seventh in par 4 scoring. After coming close to a win at The Byron Nelson, Brooks could bounce back strongly here this week.

Ryan Palmer 16/1

Palmer has been playing well over the last few weeks with two top 5’s and a top 25 in his last four starts. He had a great week in Texas shooting 68,70,72,69 on his way to a T4 finish and followed that with a respectable T23 at The Players Championship. Most recently he came close to winning the Dean and Deluca Invitational at Colonial and didn’t shoot worse than a 68 all week to finish T3 on 13 under for the tournament. He has a good record here finishing third in 2012, fourth in 2013, T32 in 2014 and T22 last year.

He is averaging over 300 yards off the tee ranking eighth in driving distance and ranks second in par 5 scoring. He seem to be heating up just at the right time and could be a big danger here.

Harris English 25/1

English seems to be showing some form over the last few weeks. He had a good performance back in February finishing solo third in Phoenix and followed that with a solo 10th at The WGC Cadillac in Doral. More recently he played well at The Wells Fargo finishing T17 and then had a solo second at The Dean and Deluca Invitational in Colonial in which he didn’t shoot worse than a 69 over the four rounds.

English will have good memories coming back here after winning in 2013 and could easily follow that up with another good performance this week.

Colt Knost 40/1

Knost has been in tip top form lately and had another impressive top 5 finish at The Byron Nelson finishing T4 after shooting 63,69,65 over the weekend which was his second 63 in three weeks. He was very impressive in Sawgrass finishing third and shot a superb 63 in round two to finish 10 under for the week. He has shown glimpses of good from finishing T16 at The Farmers in Torrey Pines back in February, T26 at The Honda and T14 at the TBC Heritage recently.

Knost has played here three times before finishing T15 in 2011, MC in 2013 and T12 last year. He ranks second in driving accuracy, 28th in SGP and first in putting inside 10 feet. Knost is in good form and looks great value considering his current form.

Daniel Berger 25/1

Despite a poor performance at Memorial last week, Berger is playing great over the last few weeks he hasn’t finished worse than T20 in six of his last eight starts. He played well at The Valspar finishing T11 and followed that with a T5 in Houston, T10 at The Masters and T20 in New Orleans. Most recently he had a good week at The Wells Fargo finishing T17 and T9 at The Players Championship.

He looks to have the game to suit this course ranking 25th in driving distance and 25th in par 4 scoring. Berger is in great form at the moment and could have another good week here on a course that could suit him.

The PGA Tour stays in Florida this week as we head to Copperhead. There are four golf courses at Innisbrook, all designed by Larry Packard, the oldest of which is the Island Course, which was completed in 1970. The Copperhead Course came next in 1974, and originally had 27 holes before nine were used as the basis of the Highlands North Course. The final addition was the Highlands South Course.

The Copperhead course underwent some subtle changes last year with bigger tee boxes, re shaped bunkers around the greens and re grassed fairways. It is a lengthy par 71 and has four par 5’s, five par 3’s and nine par 4’s. All but one of the par 3’s measure over 200 yards and will demand good accurate iron play to score on the greens, which are smaller than average for PGA Tour standards.

Three of the four par 5’s, the first, 11th and 14th are pretty easy and should offer up plenty of birdies. Two out of the four par 5’s have double doglegs so an accurate tee shot can be well rewarded. Although this course is long, there is more of an emphasis on accuracy with players reaping the rewards with accuracy off the tee on some holes.

Players that can work the ball both directions off the tee should also have a big advantage. Just like last week in Doral, water will be a key feature this week with it coming into play on 9 out of the 18 holes. This course features three tricky closing holes on the back nine in the shape of 16, 17 and 18 which are called the “Snake Pit”. It consists of two very tricky par 4’s and a difficult par 3 and is known as one of the most difficult closing three hole stretches on Tour.

There are a few stats to consider on this course, the first one being accuracy off the tee. It also boasts five par 3’s and four par 5’s so be on the lookout for good par 3 and par 5 performance stats. The greens here are Bermuda greens and are quite small and tricky to read so be on the lookout for good GIR stats and accurate iron players.

Danny Willett 20/1

Danny was really impressive last week in Doral and if it weren’t for one slightly pulled tee shot on the 18th, he could have been in a position to win had it not found the water. Instead he finished with a bogey to finish 10 under and T3 for the tournament. He has been playing great golf over the last few months with a win in Dubai in early February, a T4 at The Nedbank Challenge and a T4 at the DP World Tour Championship.

Danny looked particularly impressive last week with his irons and around the greens which should bode well around Copperhead. He ranks eighth in stroke average, 38th in GIR and 14th in strokes gained putting. After playing great last week in a top class field, Danny looks in fine form coming into this week and could be one to watch.

Harris English 33/1

English has been in good form and comes into this week on the back of two top 10’s in his last three starts. He had a great week in Phoenix shooting a superb final round 66 to finish in 12 under and solo third for the tournament. He followed that with another solid performance last week in Doral finishing solo 10th on four under for the week.

He has played well here in the past finishing T10 here last year and T7 in 2013 and ranks 29th in SGP and 34th in par 4 scoring. After two good performances recently Harris English could be another danger man here this week.

Jason Dufner 30/1

Dufner has had a good season so far and had a good week in Doral finishing T11. He started well shooting 68,72 and had a poor third round 77 that took him out of contention but finished strongly with a 68 in the final round to finish three under par for the tournament. He started the season with a back to back T9’s at The RSM Classic and The Sony and followed that with a win at The CareerBuilder Challenge. He has gone a bit cold over the last few weeks but showed a return to form last week and it comes at a good time.

Dufner has a good record here finishing T24 last year, T14 in 2014, T21 in 2013, T10 in 2012 and back to back T28’s in 2011 and 2010. He is hitting 65% of fairways off the tee and ranks 39th in GIR, 28th in SGTTG and 30th in par 5 scoring. If it weren’t for a third round 77 last week in Doral, it could have been a different week for Dufner and can bounce back strongly here this week.

K.J Choi 45/1

K.J came close to a win in Torrey Pines recently but just finished one shy of Brandt Snedeker. He played well all week shooting 68,67,72 and then got hit hard by the stormy weather and shot a final round 76 to finish solo 2nd. He followed that with a T17 at The Phoenix Open and finished T5 in Riviera at The Northern Trust Open.

Choi has a good record around Copperhead with a win in 2006, T6 in 2007, second in 2010 and T21 in 2013. He ranks 23rd in driving accuracy, 26th in SGP, third in par 3 scoring and fourth in sand saves. With good form over the last few weeks and a good record here K.J looks great value here at 45’s.

Ryan Moore 45/1

With four top 11’s in his last six starts, Ryan Moore comes into this week looking like a serious contender. He started the season with a T10 at The Frys, T10 at The CIMB Classic, T11 in Phoenix and a solo 10th in Riviera at The Northern Trust Open which included a superb ace on the 16th in the final round. Moore played well here last year finishing solo fifth which could have been a lot better if it weren’t for a disappointing final round 72.

He is hitting over 65% of fairways off the tee and ranks 31st in SGTTG, 40th in SGP, second in par 3 scoring and ninth in par 4 scoring. After a good performance here last year Moore looks great value here to have another good week.

Well it was an exciting finish at Riviera last week where Bubba Watson won his second Northern Trust Open getting us a nice 22/1 winner. Despite Kokrak’s superb scrambling and Adam Scott chipping in on 18 for birdie, Watson still managed to birdie 17 and par 18 to win by one. That makes it four winners and seven places in the last 13 events giving us a healthy +92.21 pts profit for the season so far. Let’s keep it going this week at The Honda Classic in Florida.

The Course

The PGA National Champion Course was opened on November 17, 1981 and was designed by Tom Fazio. It was the site of the 1983 Ryder Cup, the 1987 PGA Championship and the Senior PGA Championship for 19 years, from 1982–2000. The course underwent a $4 million renovation by Jack Nicklaus in December 2002, and in 2007 became the home of The Honda Classic.

The Champion Course is a tough par 70 with two par 5’s, four tricky par 3’s and 12 par 4’s and will be a difficult test for the players this week. This course has Bermuda grass greens, which is a feature on every Florida course. The fairways are quite wide and forgiving, however the greens here are quite small, tricky and guarded by plenty of bunkers. With the breeze expected to get up a little bit, be on the lookout for good wind players that hit a lot of greens. There are over 100 bunkers on this course so good scrambling and sand saves will be essential.

Looking at the way this course sets up, it might be worth looking at par 3 performance as this course has four very tricky par 3’s with GIR, strokes gained putting and par 4 performance also key stats here. The “Bear Trap” is a key feature on this course with the par 3 15th, par 4 16th and par 3 17th being particularly difficult and could potentially offer a thrilling finish come Sunday night. The 18th is a straight forward par 5 and reachable with two good shots.

Rickie Fowler 12/1

Despite losing a playoff to Hideki Matsuyama in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago, Rickie Fowler comes to Florida in great form and well rested after taking last week off. He has started his season off with a T17 at The WGC HSBC Champions and followed that with a solo third at The Hero World Challenge, solo fifth at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions, a win in Abu Dhabi and a P2 in Phoenix.

He has played well on The Champions Course in the past finishing T7 in 2012, T13 in 2013 and T24 in 2014. He ticks a lot of boxes statswise ranking 16th in GIR, 13th in SGTTG, eighth in SGP, fourth in par 4 scoring and first in par 5 scoring. Rickie is in super from at the moment and could have another good week after playing well here in the past.

Patrick Reed 22/1

Patrick Reed has been playing solid for the last three months and looks like winning any day now. He started the season of with a T10 at The CIMB Classic and followed that with a T7 at The WGC HSBC Champions and a solo second at The Hero World Challenge. He started 2016 off with a solo second at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions and had a super week in Pebble Beach finishing T6 which included a 65 in the final round.

He has played well here over the last couple of years finishing T24 in 2014 and T7 last year. Reed ranks 18th in GIR, 20th in SGTTG, second in scrambling and fifth in par 4 scoring. If he carries the form he had in Pebble into this week he will be one to watch.

Branden Grace 30/1

The South African has been playing superb lately and had a great win in Qatar a couple of weeks ago finishing on 14 under for the week. He has a win and five top 10’s in his last six events. He finished the 2015 European Tour season off in style with a solo third at The DP Tour Championship and followed that with a T8 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and a T4 at The Nedbank. He started 2016 with a T4 at The SA Open, T5 in Abu Dhabi and a win in Qatar.

Statswise he ranks 33rd in GIR, 21st in SGTTG, 11th in sand saves and ninth in stroke average. Grace tends to play well on the tougher courses and could be a huge contender here.

Kevin Kisner 35/1

Despite a missed cut in Phoenix, Kisner has a win and three top 10’s in his last five starts and looks to be playing some super golf at the moment. He finished solo second at The WGC HSBC in Shanghai, which included an opening round 64 and followed that with a win at The RSM Classic shooting 64, 64 over the weekend to seal the victory. Kisner then started 2016 off with a solo ninth at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and a T5 at The Sony, which included an opening round 63.

Kisner also ticks a lot of boxes statistically ranking 21st in both GIR and SGTTG and 14th in SGP. He also ranks second in par 4 scoring and ninth in par 5 scoring. He finished T51 here last year but comes here in much better form this time around.

Freddie Jacobson 60/1

Freddie has been playing well over the last few weeks with three top 10’s in his last five events. He had a great week at The RSM Classic finishing solo fifth and followed that with a T4 at the weather delayed Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pines. The Swede had another solid performance in Pebble finishing T4 and scrambled and putted superbly well.

He has a good record here finishing T12 in 2014, T25 in 2013, T16 in 2012, T6 in 2010 and T5 in 2009. He ranks 26th in SGP, 14th in scrambling and third in par 3 scoring and looks like a great each way shout here.

It’s been a superb couple of weeks with a35/1 winner on Jason Dufner at The Career Builder Challenge followed by an 18/1 win on Snedeker and a 30/1 place on Jimmy Walker in Torrey Pines. Let’s keep it going this week in Phoenix!

The Waste Management Phoenix Open has long been the best attended event on the schedule and this year should be no different. TPC Scottsdale has undergone some serious renovations over the last couple of years with over $12 million dollars spent on upgrades.

Strategic changes have touched all 18 holes, including new green locations on four holes and major changes at the par-5 13th. Some of the fairways have been realigned and bunkers have been reshaped making them more punishing. The large Bermuda greens were also resurfaced and could run quite fast depending on the weather conditions. The fairways are quite wide and forgiving, but if a tee shot goes a little wayward, it could end up in the desert or a deep bunker.

The signature 16th hole is an enclosed arena that holds some 20,000 spectators and tends to offer a football stadium feel to it with a great atmosphere. It is an arena that can erupt at the sight of a good tee shot and give any player who is in the hunt a good ego boost going into the final few holes on Sunday.

The course features three par 5’s that all measure between 550 and 560 yards and should be reachable in two by some of the bigger hitters in the field. The course also has four par 3’s and 11 par 4’s. The par 4 17th can be reached off the tee by some of the longer players and should offer some excitement on Sunday.

This course will require solid ball striking and will favour guys that can bomb the ball. With the changes made over the past 2 years it’s worth looking at players who are in good current form and have played well here in the past.

Bubba Watson 11/1

Bubba has been playing great golf over the last couple of months and comes here feeling fresh after taking the last couple of weeks off. He had a good finish to the season finishing T5 at The Tour Championship, T10 at The BMW, solo third at The Barclays and back to back seconds at The WGC Bridgestone and Canadian Open. He had a great win at The Hero World Challenge just before Christmas shooting 67,67,63,66 to finish an impressive 25 under for the week. He started 2016 off with a T10 at Hyundai Tournament of Champions which included three rounds in the 60’s.

He has a great record here on The Stadium Course finishing second last year, second again in 2014, T15 in 2013 and fifth in 2012. He ticks a lot of boxes here ranking third in driving distance averaging 320 yards off the tee, fifth in GIR, sixth in strokes gained tee to green and 15th in par 5 scoring. With solid current form and a great record here Bubba looks a good shout here this week.

Brandt Snedeker 14/1

After a superb final round 69 in practically unplayable conditions in Torrey Pines last Sunday, Sneds ended up winning The Farmers Insurance Open by one strokes over KJ Choi. He started the season off with a respectable T17 at The Frys and followed that with a win at The Franklin Templeton Shootout with playing partner Jason Dufner, who had a great win at The CareerBuilder Challenge a couple of weeks ago.

Sneds followed the win with a T3 at The Hyundai Tournament of Champions and took that momentum into the Sony Open where he played very solid all week shooting a 63 in round one and shot 65,66,66 to finish 20 under for the tournament. He got into a playoff Fabien Gomez, but was just pipped at the post on the second playoff hole.

He has a great record here at the Stadium Course finishing T10 last year, T2 in 2013, T8 in 2011 and T9 in 2008. Statswise he is averaging just under 300 yards off the tee and ranks 17th in strokes gained putting, 28th in par 3 scoring and 13th in par 4 scoring. With such great current form and a good record here Snedeker could make it two wins in a row.

Kevin Kisner 28/1

With a win and three top 10’s in his last four starts, Kevin Kisner is playing some super golf at the moment. He finished solo second at The WGC HSBC in Shanghai, which included an opening round 64 and followed that with a win at The RSM Classic shooting 64, 64 over the weekend to seal the victory. Kisner then started 2016 off with a solo ninth at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and a T5 at The Sony, which included an opening round 63.

The American is hitting it an average of 296 off the tee and ranks fifth in driving accuracy. He also ranks 18th in strokes gained tee to green and 18th in strokes gained putting. With a solid start to the year there’s no reason why he can’t continue that fine form here in Phoenix.

Jason Dufner 30/1

Dufner arrives in Phoenix after an excellent win at The CareerBuilder Challenge after beating Swede David Lingmerth in a playoff and played solid all week shooting 64,65,64,70 on his way to a 25 under total. He has been playing well over the last couple of months and won The Franklin Templeton Shootout with partner Brandt Snedeker, where his iron play and putting looked superb all week. He also had a great week at The RSM Classic finishing T9 and followed that with a T9 at The Sony Open on 13 under for the tournament, which included a third round 65.

He has played well here in the past finishing T8 in 2012 and T2 in 2011. He ranks 31st in driving accuracy, 20th in GIR, 13th in strokes gained tee to green and third in par 5 scoring. After a mediocre 2015 season, Dufner looks back to his best over the last few weeks and could be a huge contender here.

Ryan Palmer 35/1

Palmer is playing pretty consistent golf over the last few weeks with three top 20’s in four starts. He finished T16 at The Shriners and followed that with a T13 at The Sony and a T17 at The CareerBuilder Challenge in California. He started well shooting 67,66,66 in the first three rounds and should have finished a bit better after shooting a disappointing 73 in round 4.

He has played well here in the past finishing T2 last year, T5 in 2013 and T14 in 2010. Statswise he is averaging a massive 315 yards off the tee ranking fifth in driving distance, 31st in strokes gained tee to green and second in par 5 scoring.